Barge loading and unloading



June 22, 1943. s. E. BRANDON BARGE LOADING AND UNLOAbING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 28, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet l N WI? W M R mm mm Q mm m Mm m a .w E T M .M N p m m a m w? June 22, 1943. a. E. BRANDON 2,322,504

BARGE LOADING AND UNLOADING' APPARATUS Filed Sept. 28, 1940 s Sheets-Sheet 2 RWQM N GEORGE E BPAA/OOA/ INVENTOR ATTORNEY June 22, 1943. G. E. BRANDO 2,322,504

BARGE LOADING AND UNLOADING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 28. 1940 s Sheets-PSheet s .amPa: f. BRANDON INVENTOR ATTORNEY June 22, 1943. G. E. BRANDON 2,322,504

BARGE LOADING AND UNLOADING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 28, 1940 s Sheets-Sheet 4 F7 5 ma-OQ BY 1 S E'ATTORNEY June 22, 1943. G. E. BRANDON BARGE LOADING AND UNLOADING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 28, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Wm n m wm INVENTOR Patented June 22, 1943 BARGE LOADING AND UNLOADING APPARATUS George E. Brandon, New York, N. Y., assignor to Semet-Solvay Engineering Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application September 28, 1940, Serial No. 358,804

4 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for unloading barges, and particularly to apparatus for unloading coal or coke barges on bodies of water Where the shore-line changes with the rise and fall of the water level as, for example, due to the ebb and how of the tides.

Machines heretofore proposed for removal of materiai from barges have involved a bucket conveyor (U. S. Patent 1,422,926, granted July 18, 1922) or a clam-shell bucket which can be moved about to reach and pick up material from the barge. The unloading apparatus of Patent 1,422,926 involves a carrier movable in a path the side of a barge, i. e. parallel to the side of the barge, and a complicated mounting connecting the bucket conveyor to the carrier and ting movement of the conveyor about a axis so that the conveyor can be'moved into all corners of the barge. Apparatus of this iypc require: constant supervision to direct the conveyor and cannot be used where the rise and fall of the water level changes the shore-line, since the path traveled by the carrier would at times be submerged and at other times would be at a distance too far from the barge to permit unloading.

The cla hell bucket type of unloader ordiskill to' remove material at a reasonable speed.

Even when skillfully operated the clam-shell bucket inevitably scars the sides and bottom of the barge. Also, the clam-shell bucket leaves a considerable quantity of material in the barge, which causes delay and expense since the remaining material. must be removed b hand.

It is an object of the present invention to prov'ide apparatus for unloading barges which requires only a minimum of control and which will operate to remove substantially the entire charge of material without scarring the barge.

It is an additional object to provide an apparatus comprising a bucket conveyor which is operable to unload barges notwithstanding changes in water level causing changes in the shore-line. Other objects and advantages will in part be obvious from, and in part be described in, the following specification.

According to my invention, I provide an apparatus for unloading barges comprising an unloading or terminal tower near the shore-line a bank of a body of water, a bucket conveyor or unloader carried by the tower, and a device to move a barge to be unloaded past the tower. The tower is movable up and down, preferably along a sloping path at right angles to the keel or side of the barge, on the bank of the body of water to a position, determined by the water level, in which a barge may pass beneath the bucket con veyor. The bucket conveyor is mounted on the tower for movement down into the barge and for movement up out of the barge. The bucket conveyor feeds to a delivery conveyor which in turn delivers the material to a cooperating conveyor system, the delivery conveyor and the conveyor system being constructed and designed so that when the bucket conveyor is positione to remove mate-rial the discharge end of the delivery conveyor at any and all water levels is properly disposed to discharge the material onto the conveyor system, which deposits it at a desired point.

In the preferred embodiment illustrated in the drawings the invention is shown incorporated in a barge unloading apparatus comprising a buckettype unloader pivotally connected to parallel arms which are slida-bly and pivotally connected to an unloading tower to provide for vertical movement of the unloader in a path in fixed relation to the tower, and the present description will be confined to thepresent illustrated embodiment of the invention. It will be understood, however, that the novel features and improvements are susceptible to other applications such, for example, as apparatus wherein the-'unl'oader is slidably connected directly to the tower. Hence, the scope of this invention is not confined to the embodiment herein described.

In the drawings,

Figure l is a side elevation of apreferred form of the apparatus showing the. machine'- of my invention inposition tounload material from a. barge near the shore-line;

Figllle 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of abarg'e and the apparatus employed to move the barge past the unloading machine;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary plan view showing the unloading apparatus positioned to remove material from the barge;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken on the line 4- of Figure 3 showing the unloading apparatus positioned to remove material from the barge;

Figure 5 is a detailfront view showing the mounting of a bucket-type unloader forming pal-t of the unloadin apparatus;

Figure 9 is a section taken along the line 2-2 of Figure 8;

Figure is a section taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 3;

Figure 11 is a fragmentary side view another in my'ap-paratus; and

illustrat ing the transfer of material'fr'om one conveyor to Figure 12 is a fragmentary side view of the de' livery end of my unloadin apparatus. 1

Figures 1 to 4 show barge unloading apparatus comprising an unloading tower located on the bank jlZ Of a. river or other body' of water-whose shoreline changes with rise and fall of thewater level. The, tower llcarries a platform or support l3 and -a bucket-type unloader |4 mounted on theplatform or support l3, and is movable on rollers 5 along tracks, I6 in a sloping path substantially atv right angles to the shore-line. Cable I, ,connected to ,tower is wound or paid out by motor-,drivenQdrum |8 to move the tower to a position, determined by the water lever, in which bargelscan pass underneath the unloader I4.

A pulley 26A is provided (Figure 11) to keep cable above the bankl-2, i. e.above thesurface of the ground. l v

': The bargej l9 may be moved slowly beneath the unloader |4;by a cable 2| (Figure 2) connected between apair of drums 22 mounted on the platform l3 and theniggerheads 23 on the barge I9. The -.drums 22 are rotated to wind up the cable -2| byja sh'aft24 which is driven by motor and speed reducer assembly25, also mounted on plat .form' l3; thus the barge is moved slowly at right angles to the pathof movement of the tower 'Theiplatform 3 is connected to the tower i-by'arms 26 and 21 (Figures 3 and 4) and is movable up anddown in a substantially vertical directionby. cable 28 and motor 29 so that the unloaderl4 may be lowered to pick up a strip of material from a barge I8 moving beneath it and may be raised up out of the barge. The material picked up by the unloader M is received by a con- ;veyor 3| and is carried successively byconveyors 32, 33 and34. From the conveyor 34 the material'is discharged to a-chute 35 for further I handling.

.. Asshown in Figures 3; 4 and 5, the unloader |4 comprises a pluralityof bucket conveyors 36 carried by and extending down from the platform 13. A pulley 31 on the platform l3 (Figure 5) carries'the upper end of each bucket conveyor v36; The lower end of a conveyor chain passes around a pulley 38 supported from platform l3 by members 39 and 4|. The conveyors 36 are arranged side :by side in a line at rightangles to the path of the barge l9 and are operated by a motor 42 (Figure 3) which rotates a shaft 43 and sprockets thereon to drive the upper pulleys 31 through chains 45 (Figure 5) and sprockets 46 ,(Figure 3). The lower pulleys 38 are rotated by the conveyors 36 and are mounted on the same shaft as the spiral or helical members 41 (Figure 4) which feed material to the bucket conveyors 36. Thus the helical members 41 and pulleys 38 are both driven by the conveyors 36. Guard 4 and 5) are carried members 48 and 49 (Fi ures by the members 39 and 4| and are positioned around the spiral members 41 and bucket conveyors 36 to protect the bottom and sides of the barge IS. The spiral members 41 and bucket conveyors 36 constituting the unloader M are constructed to pick up a strip of material the width of the barge from a barge l9 moving therebeneath.

As appears from Figures 3 and 4 the platform 7 to which the unloader I4 is fixed comprises the beams 50, the cross bracings 5|, and the truss members 52 which extend upward and at an angle to the beams 50 forming a cantilever truss. The platform I3 is held in horizontal position and is connected to .the tower H by two pairs of vertically spaced parallel arms 26 and 21. The ends 53 of the arms 26 are pivotally connected to the truss members 52 at 55, and the ends 54 of the arms 21 are pivotally connected to the beams 56 at 56. The arms 26 and 21 are slidably connected to the-tower II by the connections 51, 58, 59 and 6| hereinafter described.

The tower comprises uprights 62, 63, 64 and 65 arranged at the corners of a rectangle and held in fixed relationship-with each other by truss'mernbers 66 andcross beams 61 and 68 (Figures 3 and 4). The connections 51 and-58 slidably and pivotally connect the ends 69 and 1| of the arms 26 and 21 to the uprights 62 an i 63 which are farthest from the platform I3. Each connection 51 and 58 (Figures 6 and 7) comprises a slot- 12 in the ends 69 and 1| of the arms 26 and 21, which slidably engages a pin 13 carried by a bracket 14 on the uprights 62 and 63. The con nections 51 and 58 permit lateral movement of the ends 69 and 1| of the arms 26 and 21, but not ver-v tical movement. Since the other ends 53 and 54 of the-arms 26 and 21 are maintained in vertically spaced relation by the connections 55 and 56 to the platform [3, the arms 26 and 21 are maintained parallel at all times. The connections, 51 and 58 also serve as centers of rotation forthe arms 26 and 21 to give a relatively long radiusso that platform I3 may be moved up and down a considerable distance while the arms 26 and 21 rotate through only a small angle. The connections 59 and 6| (Figures 8, 9 and 10) :slidably and pivotally connect the arms 26 and 21 intermediate their ends and at equal short distances from the ends 53 and 54 to the uprights '64 andv 65. Each connection 59 and 6| comprises a pin 16 and a shoe 11. The shoes 11 are formed to slide up and down on tracks 18 car.- -ried by the uprights 64 and 65 and the pins 16 are pivotally mounted in the arms 26 and 21. Thus connections 59 and 6| permit vertical movement of the arms 26 and 21 but not lateral movement. The distances from the uprights 64 and 65 along arms 26 and 21 to the points 55 and 56 V where thearrns 26 and 21 are connected to platform l3 are thus maintained equal; and since the arms 26 and 21 are kept parallel, as hereinabove explained, the platform |3 will be held in horizontal position by the arms 26 and 21 during any up anddown movement.

It will be noted that up and down movement of the platform l3 effected by motor 29 actu ating the cable 28 as hereinabove described is in a substantially vertical path in fixed relation to tower since the connections 59 and 6| prevent lateral movement of the arms 26 and 21. Further, the pin and slot or lost motion connections 51 and 58 permit movement of the ends 69, 1| of arms 26, 21, thereby minimizing lateral movement of the platform I3. Lastly, the angle moved by the arms 26 and 21 is slight. hence there, is no appreciable lateral movement of the platform I3 which movement, if appreciable, would have a tendency to injure the barge walls. The weight of the platform I3 is counterbalanced by a counterweight 82 connected by cable 30 (Figure 4) running over pulleys. I9 and 80 mounted on beam 61 at the top of the tower II.

The uprights 84 and 65 (Figures 3 and 4) of the tower II are provided with guides 83 which maintain a barge I9 moving past the tower II in a path at. right angles to the path of the tower and in fixed relationship to the tower, directly beneath. the unloader I4. Floats 84 are fixed to and movable with tower II andextend at the side of the path of the barge I9. The floats carry buffers 85 which hold the barge I9 against tipping or rocking during unloading. By reason of the substantially vertical movement of the platform I3 in a path in fixed relation to the tower II and the path of the barge I9 also in fixed relation to the tower II, the unloader I4, even though its width is substantially equal to that of the interior of the barge I9, may be lowered to pick up a strip of material and raised without scarring the sides of the barge I9.

The material picked up by the unloader I4 is transferred to the first conveyor 3I of the conveyor system through chute members 86 (Figure 5) which are fixed to the platform I3 adjacent the upper ends of the bucket conveyors 36. The conveyor 3I travels over pulleys 81 (Figure 4) carried by the platform I3 and moves at right angles to the path of the barge I9. The second conveyor 32 of the system travels over a pulley 88 carried by a bracket 89 fixed to the platform I3 so that the material receiving end of conveyor 32 is maintained in fixed relation to the discharge end of the conveyor 3I to receive material therefrom in any position to which conveyor 32 may be moved by movement of the platform I3. The other end of conveyor 32 travels over a pulley 90 which is fixed to the tower II. Suitable means such as conventional take-up rolls 32a, 32b, and 320 (Fig. 4), may be provided to take up slack in the conveyor 32 when the platform I3 is raised or lowered.

The third conveyor 33 0f the system is supported by a beam 9I (Figures 4 and 11) in position to receive material from conveyor 32.

The beam 9| extends parallel to the path of fourth conveyor 34 of the system extends along the beam 94 and is positioned beneath the end of. the beam 9| and conveyor 33. A chute 95 fixed to the end of beam 9I transfers material from conveyor 33 to conveyor 34 in any position to which the conveyor 33 may be moved by movement of the tower II. The conveyor 34 discharges the material to a chute 35 for further handling. As shown in Figure 12, chute 35 may be divided into two branches 96 and 91, and a I two-way gate 98 may be provided to direct material through either branch to either car 99.

Two additional conveyors, identified by the reference characters IM and I06, are provided for use in loading the barge. One end of the conveyor I M is mounted on rollers I02 moving on a track I03 extending beneath beam 9I. The conveyor IN is moved to the dotted-line position shown in Figure 4, when it is desired to load a barge by means of a cable I00 connected to the conveyor IOI and passing over a pulley I04 fixed to the platform I3. A hopper I05 (Figure 12) discharges material, for example coke, to be loaded onto the conveyor I06 which carries the material to a sorting screen (not shown) on a transfer tower I01. Fine material is screened from the material to be loaded and the remainder of the material is discharged from the screen through chute I08. Chute I08 is located over conveyor 33 at a point such that movement of the tower II and conveyor 33 hecessitated by change of water level only moves conveyor 33 back and forth under chute I08 and does not move it from position to receive material from chute I08. Conveyor 33 is operated in a direction reverse to that in which it is operated during unloading operations so that the material is carried from the transfer tower I0I to the end of the conveyor 33 at the tower II. The conveyor IOI receives material from the conveyor 33 and discharges it to a barge I9 beneath the end of the conveyor IOI, which is moved past the tower II as in the unloading operations.

The operation of my apparatus for unloading a barge is as follows:

Unloading tower II is moved up or down on the bank of a body of water along the sloping path provided by tracks I5 to a position determined by the water level where the platform I3 and unloader l4 fixed thereto project over water in which a barge can pass. The unloader I4 is then raised, if it has not already been raised, to a position where it will not interfere with movement of a barge I9 beneath it. A barge I9, containing, for example, coal to be unloaded, is moved to put one end thereof beneath the unloader I4 and position the sides of the barge I9 against the guides 83 and buffers 85. Cable 2I is passed over the niggerheads 23 on the barge I9 and secured to the drums 22 on the platform I3. The drums 22 are operated to wind up the cable 2| and move the barge I9 slowly, e. g., about ninety feet per hour, beneath the unloader I4 in a path determined by the guides 83 and buffers 85 in fixed relation to the tower II and at right angles to the tracks I6. Where there is current the barge I9 is preferably moved against the current.

The platform I3 is lowered substantially vertically to move the unloader I4, which is substantially as wide as the interior of barge I9, down to pick up a strip of material from the barge which is moving therebeneath. The platform I3 is raised to lift the unloader I4 out of the barge I9 when the end of the barge reaches a position adjacent the unloader I4. Since the barge I9 is guided in a path in fixed relation to the tower II by guides 83 and cable 2|, and the unloader I4 moves up and down in a substantially vertical path and is held in fixed relation to tower II by arms 26 and 21, there is substantially no lateral relative movement between the unloader I4 and the barge I9 when the unloader is raised or lowered so that the walls of the barge I9 are not scarred. All of the material in the barge l9 may be picked up cleanly and without damage to the walls of the barge in one passage beneath the unloader l4, but if desired the material may be unloader in two or more successivestrips of the barge beneath the unloader.

The material picked up by the unloader I4 is transferred by chutes 86 to the conveyor 3| mounted on the platform IS. The second conveyor 32, which has one end fixed to the platform l3 and the other end fixed to the tower ll, receives material fromco-nveyor Si in any positionto which that conveyor may be moved by platform l3, and delivers it to the third conveyor 33. chute 95 carried by beam 9| at a fixed distance from the tower I l., Chute 95 is the transfer point .where the material is transferred from conveyor 33 to the fourth conveyor 34 which carries it to chute 35.

When the water level charges, the tower H is moved to a new position where a barge Hi again can pass beneath the unloader l4. Unloader l4 and conveyors 3| and 32 function as before.

.Conveyo-r 33 and chute 95 are moved with the tower l 4 relative to fixed conveyor 34 and transfer material to conveyor 35 in any position to which the conveyor 33 and chute 95 may be moved.

Thus it will be noted my invention provides apparatus involving the use of bucket unloaders which apparatus is operable to unload barges and .to convey the material unloaded to a determined point notwithstanding changes in water level and accompanying changes in shoreline. The appawratus requires only a minimum of control to ef- I Conveyor 33 carries the material to the fect a thorough removal of material from a barge and removes the material at a high rate. Moreover, this complete and rapid removal is effected without scarring the sides of the barge by the unloader because bothbarge and unloader are connected to an unloading tower which moves them in paths which are in fixed relation to the ,tower.

I I claim:

1. Apparatus for unloading material from a barge which comprises a tower, a support mounted on the tower for movement in a substantially vertical path, a bucket conveyor carried by said support, means to move the tower in a sloping path on a bank of a body of water to a position in which a barge can pass underneath the bucket "conveyor, means to move a barge beneath the bucket conveyor, means to lower said support to position the bucket conveyor to pick up a strip of material from a barge moving therebeneath and to raise the support, a conveyor mounted on the support to receive material from the bucket .conveyor a second conveyor having one end in fixed relation to the first conveyor to receive material therefrom and the other end in fixed relation to the tower, a third conveyor fixed to and ."fer point during movement of the tower and adapted to receive material from the third conveyor and convey it to a predetermined discharge point.

2. Apparatus for unloading material from a barge which comprises a tower on a bank of a body of water, said tower comprising a pair of .laterally spaced uprights, a pair of vertically spaced parallel arms of equal length, a substan-- tially horizontal platform pivotally connected to the arms at one end, sliding connections between one of said uprights and the arms adjacent the other end of the arms and sliding connections between the second upright and thearms intermediate the ends of the arms whereby the platform is maintained horizontal and is movable in a substantially vertical direction, a bucket conveyor fixed to said platform, means to move a barge to be unloaded beneath said bucket conveyor, means for lowering said platform to position the bucket conveyor to take up a strip of material from the moving barge and to raise the platform, a conveyor mounted on the platform to receive material from the bucket conveyor, and a second conveyor with one end in fixed relation to the end of the first conveyor to receive material therefrom and with the other end infixed relation to the tower.

3. Apparatus for unloading material from a barge which comprises four uprights arranged at the corners of a rectangle and forming a tower, two pairs of vertically spaced parallel arms of equal length, a substantially horizontal platform pivotally connected to the arms at one end, sliding conenctions between the arms and two adjacent uprights adjacent the other end of the arms constructed for lateral movement of the arms but not vertical movement and sliding connections between the remaining two uprights and the arms intermediate the ends of the arms constructed for up and down movement of the arms but not lateral movement whereby the platform is maintained horizontal and is movable in a substantially vertical direction, a bucket conveyor fixed to said platform, means to move the tower in a sloping path on a bank of a body of water to a position so related to the water level that a barge can pass beneath the bucket conveyor, means to move the barge beneath the bucket conveyor, means to lower said platform to position the bucket conveyor to pick up a strip of material from a barge moving therebeneath and to raise the platform, a conveyor mounted on said platform to receive material from the bucket conveyor, conveyor meansvcarried by the tower and movable therewith to receive material from the bucket conveyor and carry it to a transfer point at a fixed distance from the tower, and a conveyor extending beneath and substantially parallel to the path traveled by the transfer point during movement of the tower and adapted to receive material from the conveyor means and convey it to a predetermined discharge point.

4. Apparatus for unloading material from a barge which comprises four uprights arranged at the corners of a rectangle and forming a tower two pairs of vertically spaced parallel arms of equal length, a substantially horizontal platform pivotally connected to the arms at one end sliding connections between the arms and two adjacent uprights near the other end of the arms constructed for lateral movement of the arms but not vertical movement and sliding connections between the remaining two uprights and the arms intermediate the ends of the arms' constructed for up and down movement of the arms but not lateral movement, whereby the platform is maintained horizontal and is movable in a substantially vertical direction, a bucket-type unloader fixed to said platform, means to move the tower in a sloping path on a bank of a body of water at substantially a right angle to the shore-line to a position in which a barge can pass beneath the unloader, means acting between the tower and a barge to move the barge beneath the unloader, means carried by the tower to guide the barge in a predetermined substantially straight path in fixed relation to the tower, means to lower said platform to position the unloader to pick up a strip of material from a barge moving therebeneath and to raise the platform, said unloader being constructed and arranged to pick up a string of material the width of the barge, a conveyor mounted on said platform to receive material from the unloader, a second conveyor having one end in fixed relation to the GEORGE E. BRANDON.

Jun 22, 1943.

A. W. BULL PNEUMATIC TIRE Filed Nov. 28, 1940 INVENTORW ARTHUR W BULL I ATTORNEY ll I CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION. Patent No. 2,522,50h. June 22, 19m.

GEORGE E. BRANDON.

'It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page first column, line 5, for "unloader" read -un1oaded; same line, for "strips" read -trips-; line 21, for "charges" read changes--; and second column, line 26, claim 5, for "conenctions" read -connections-; page 5, first column, line 10, claim )4, for "string" read -strip-; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to therecord of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 27th day of July, A; D. 1914.5.

Henry Van Arsdale, (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

